The Kansas City Chiefs needed to make a change before last season was even complete. Todd Haley and his tantrums were taking them nowhere.

Yet the move created an interim period that resulted in a three-game audition for Romeo Crennel, who showed enough acumen -- at least for impressionable Chiefs executives -- to take over permanently as head coach.

Well, as permanent as those positions get.

Based on the level of performance the Chiefs offered Friday, Crennel could be overmatched.

The Seattle Seahawks scored on each of their five first-half possessions. Then, for good measure, they sailed 80 yards in four plays offensively, raced 75 yards with an interception defensively, and broke a punt return 92 yards on special teams for three additional touchdowns in the third quarter.

The final: Seattle 44, Kansas City 14.

Hard to take. Almost made you want to scour Arrowhead Stadium looking for Turner Gill.

Afterward, Crennel said little. All talk was not the answer for no action.

“Every loss, you’re not crazy about it, and you can try to find silver linings,’’ Crennel said. “I can try to find the silver linings, but that doesn’t change the score and doesn’t change the way we played.’’

Knock Matt Cassel all you want.

As is too often the case, the KC quarterback provided enough negative material, especially when a tentative dump pass resulted in the pick-six by Seattle safety Earl Thomas.

Cassel engineered just one scoring drive, late in the second quarter.

By then, however, the first-team KC defense coordinated by head coach Crennel had permitted four scores, all of which were engineered by the Seahawks rookie quarterback, Russell Wilson.

Defensive breakdowns, including a pair of roughing penalties against Tamba Hali to assist Seattle in a successful two-minute drill to close the first half, were most alarming.

Crennel supposedly knows defense. And in fairness, two valuable starters in the KC secondary, safety Kendrick Lewis and cornerback Brandon Flowers, were out with injuries.

But injuries are part of the game. If their absence thinned the Chiefs to the extent they could get shelled by Wilson (he went in the third round, so yes, he’s another QB the Chiefs passed on in the draft) in a 30-point loss at home, what will happen when Peyton Manning brings the Broncos to town?

No one wants to think about that one just yet, including the Chiefs. Crennel insists there is time “to go back to the drawing board and play better.’’

Based on Friday’s meltdown, he better have some magic chalk. Yet the 24-40 record Crennel posted from 2005-08 with the Cleveland Browns suggests his sideline powers are limited.

Kansas City, however, gave him another chance. One that looked promising after three season-ending games in 2011, but has quickly dissolved into something grim after back-to-back preseason busts against St. Louis and Seattle.

“We’ve got to figure out what we can do well with this team,’’ Crennel said.

Even then, those strengths must incorporate all three phases and prove advantageous over four quarters.

That’s a whole lot for the Chiefs to uncover with just one more preseason game to play before the season opener.